Big Gay News

The Huffington Post reports that Jodie Foster ended years of rampant media speculation when she casually came out of the closet while accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes Sunday night.

After mentioning in her speech that “I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago, back in the Stone Age,” the notoriously private actress went on to say, “If you had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you, too, would value privacy above all else.”

Foster now joins celebrities such as Matt Bomer, Sam Champion, and Anderson Cooper who have publicly addressed the question of their sexuality in low-key, almost matter-of-fact ways.

The Press-Telegram reports that the Rev. Mel White is angry that Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and Rick Warren say they are doing the Lord’s work and their anti-gay views are based on the Bible.

During a guest sermon Sunday morning at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, Reverend White stated: “Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have been suffering in fear and guilt and killing themselves because of the hideous things said by the religious right.”

After trying for more than 20 years to cure his homosexuality with psychotherapy, prayer, electroconvulsive therapy, exorcism, and eventually an attempted suicide, White revealed: “I went through decades hearing people misuse the Bible and thinking I was sick and needed to be cured and be forgiven because I am gay. Now I know God loves you and there isn’t anything you can do to stop that.”

BigGayNews from New York:Koch Film’s “Gay” Furor

The New York Post reports that the new documentary about Ed Koch may have ruined his friendship with a prominent gay advocate, who suggests in the movie that the former mayor is gay.

In the film, lobbyist and longtime gay activist Ethan Geto recalls the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, saying: “So many people, particularly in the gay community, thought Koch was gay and that because he was a closeted gay man he wouldn’t do anything on AIDS.”

Koch, who has always fervently refused to discuss his sexuality, told The Post that he was taken aback by comments from someone he once considered a friend.

BigGayNews from California:Jeanne Manford, PFLAG Founder, Dies At 92

The Washington Blade reports that Jeanne Manford, the founder of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), died Thursday at her home in Daly City, California.

Manford was a New York City native who became an overnight leader of the burgeoning “straight ally” movement in 1972 when she spoke out publicly in support of her son, a gay activist who was attacked and beaten at a gay rights demonstration.

After marching alongside her son in the New York’s second annual gay pride parade carrying a sign saying “Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children”, Manford’s support started the movement of parents, friends, and allies.

The Washington Post reports that a San Francisco lawmaker on Tuesday planned to introduce legislation asking voters to rename the city’s airport after slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

Supervisor David Campos sponsored a charter amendment that would put the question of creating Harvey Milk-San Francisco International Airport on San Francisco’s November ballot.

If five of Campos’ colleagues agree to submit the proposed name change to voters and the amendment goes through, the city would become home to the world’s first airport honoring an openly gay person, said Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk.

BigGayNews from Washington DC:National Cathedral To Host First Same-Sex Weddings

The SF Gate reports that the Washington National Cathedral, where the nation gathers to mourn tragedies and celebrate new presidents, will soon begin hosting same-sex marriages.

Cathedral officials state that the church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members, and that they plan to announce its new policy on Wednesday.

The cathedral’s dean, the Very Reverend Gary Hall, states that performing same-sex marriages is an opportunity to break down barriers and build a more inclusive community “that reflects the diversity of God’s world.”

ChannelNewsAsia.com reports that a Taiwanese gay couple said Tuesday they have received death threats after going public with a controversial appeal against the government for refusing to register their marriage.

Chen Ching-hsueh and his partner Kao Chih-wei filed a complaint with the Taipei Administrative Court last year against a government agency which had turned them away when they tried to register their marriage, and while the general public had reacted positively, Chen said he got death threats and some offensive comments posted on his Facebook which prompted him to consider withdrawing his case.

The case has been widely described as a potential milestone for gay rights as it could potentially pave the way to Asia’s first legalization of same-sex marriage.

BigGayNews from Great Britain:Oxford Union Slammed For Inviting Three Gay Haters

Well-known homophobes Scott Lively, Winston McKenzie, and Peter D. Williams would debate a motion “This House Would be Glad to Have Gay Parents”; however, they are infamous in their anti-gay stance, making their invitation a sharply criticized point among gay rights campaigners.

GLBT rights campaigners slammed the choice of speakers, in particular signaling out Lively, who authored ‘The Pink Swastika’, a book which blames the holocaust on gays, and who is an ardent supporter of Uganda’s planned death penalty for gays (Kill the Gays Bill) and on record as saying homosexuality is a “global threat.”